It all stems back to the 2013-14 incident with his former Dolphins teammate Jonathan Martin. Here’s a recap in case you forgot how Incognito became one of the most infamous players in the NFL: Read more…

Donning a gold chain and baggy jeans with holes, Peyton spit bars about “fantasy, fantasy, football fantasy, like an end zone that ends in a waterfall,” among other things. And given that this was not his first foray into the rap game, it only seemed plausible that his attire was taken from his wardrobe.

“That was a prop,” Peyton said of his gold chain. “Eli brought his own outfit. Very disturbing, but he had it in his wardrobe. Mine were all props, not sure on the offensive linemen. I think (Ryan) Clady (Louis) Vasquez and Orlando (Franklin) had some props as well.”

Peyton Manning will have all eyes on him again Sunday in Denver. (John Leyba, The Denver Post)

For fans of the Orange and Blue and to the rest of you, here’s the newest edition of the Broncos Insider Newsletter, with links and stats from around the country looking toward Sunday’s Denver vs. New England AFC championship game…

Peyton Manning had the quickest release on passes among all quarterbacks in 2013. (John Leyba, The Denver Post)

Bear with me on this one. For some reason, I find this interesting, and I hope you will, too.

When I was digging through some numbers earlier this week on Pro Football Focus, I noticed that all of the quarterback release times from last weekend’s games seemed, well, slow. Like, really slow.

I decided to take a closer look, and sure enough, only two quarterbacks got rid of the ball faster than their regular-season average marks during the Wild Card round of the playoffs: Philadelphia’s Nick Foles and Indianapolis’ Andrew Luck.

Yes, yes, yes, until they prove us otherwise. The Broncos shorthanded offensive line allowed just 20 sacks in 16 games this season, fewest in the NFL. (The next fewest allowed was by the Lions, who allowed 23, the next fewest by a playoff team, the Bengals with 29.) In addition, the Broncos allowed just 51 quarterback hits, second-fewest behind the Bengals, who had 47.

There’s no bigger sample size, really, and even an improved pass rush shouldn’t be able to do too much against Peyton Manning’s line. Last time the two teams played, Manning didn’t take a sack, and though the Chargers’ pass rush has looked better, it’s really just been over the past two games.

This comes from @IAMWillBeck on Twitter, and it’s the question on most Broncos’ fans minds this week. I’ll actually be addressing it somewhat in my longer Sunday story, so I won’t go too much into detail now, but here’s the gist: Protecting Peyton Manning from here on out is about adjustments, not changing personnel.

I can’t tell you the number of tweets I’ve gotten over the past few weeks floating ideas about ditching Chris Clark, finding a new offensive lineman to take his place, or even complaining about the play of other linemen.

After skipping last week, which was supposed to be an uneventful bye, this week in review will go all the way back to Nov. 2, when Broncos coach John Fox was hospitalized with a heart problem.

Saturday: Mid-afternoon, news broke that Fox had experienced light-headedness while golfing in Charlotte and was taken to a local hospital. As the evening unfolded, more details became available, first that he was undergoing tests and was hopeful to be released and eventually that he’d have to undergo aortic valve replacement surgery. It also became known that Fox was aware of the condition and had hoped to postpone the necessary procedure until after the season.

Pro Football Focus is hands-down my favorite football stats site, and it’s worth a subscription for some of its paywall-protected material. This week, it released its Midseason All-Pro Team, which features two Broncos — and one who made second-team honors.

The first, of course, is Peyton Manning, who grades out on the site as the best quarterback in both overall ratings and passing ratings — and by a mile. No surprise there.

The second is… wait for it… It’s not Wes Welker. Not Von Miller. Not Demaryius Thomas. Not Eric Decker.

It’s Louis Vasquez, at right guard. Vasquez has graded out as the best player at his position this season, and he’s been the best pass-blocking guard in the NFL thus far in 2013.

The second-team mention was another offensive lineman, center Manny Ramirez.

In an interesting story in the San Jose Mercury News, Steve Corkran discusses the Raiders’ pass rush — perhaps their most celebrated accomplishment thus far in 2013 — and why it may not have the same effect against Peyton Manning and the Broncos.

Corkran describes the Raiders’ pass rush success as being a result of “their penchant for blitzing any player, in any situation, from a variety of angles,” an approach that might not work so well against Manning, who is tough to fool with the blitz and often succeeds in spite of it.Read more…

Nicki Jhabvala is a Broncos beat writer for The Denver Post. She was previously the digital news editor for sports. Before arriving in Denver, she spent five years at Sports Illustrated working primarily as its online NBA editor. She also spent two years as a home page editor at the New York Times.